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Incomparably Great Power — Really Big Stuff

I cannot procrastinate any longer. The Easter season is here, and of course the central events of our celebrations are Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.

These days, just say the word “resurrection,” and my mind jumps to “power.” So I guess it’s time to tackle this subject. I’ve just been putting it off because it’s so big and … well, so powerful.

Part of your inheritance as a child of God is power. There. I’ve said it. Now what thoughts are zipping through your mind?

Read the Scripture on the right hand panel of this screen. For those of us who believe, there is an incomparably great power. You’ve probably read that verse dozens of times. Have you ever tried to plumb the depth of what this means for you?

Before we go any further, ask the Spirit to open the eyes of your heart, so that you can catch a glimpse of what the Father has for you and begin to know what power there is for the children of God.

Note that the verses printed here from Ephesians end with the first part of verse 19. The second part of verse 19 is the reason “resurrection” and “power” are linked so closely in my mind. I’m going to backtrack a bit and give you the full verse from the New Living Translation:

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe in him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Did you catch that? The same power that raised Christ from the dead is working in our lives and is part of our inheritance as children of God.

The gospels tell us Jesus had the power to bring people back to life after they had died. The story of Lazarus is the most familiar; there were others. We say we believe those miracles. We believe that Jesus himself died, but is now alive again.

But it’s pretty hard to believe that such a thing could happen today. Am I right? Most of us have buried someone dear to us. To think of that person suddenly being restored to life … well, that’s pretty fantastic.

Yet we believe Jesus had the power to do that. And we believe that Jesus actually did come back to life after being executed. Our whole faith is based on that belief. Even the apostle Paul says that if Christ didn’t rise from the dead, then our faith is foolishness and we are to be pitied for following Jesus. But we believe Christ is alive. Everybody with me so far?

Now make the huge leap to this idea: The same power that can bring someone back from death, the power that brought Christ out of a tomb — that power is working in your life, is part of your inheritance as a child of God.

This is so huge, so mind-boggling, I can’t even pinpoint the right word to use. Astonishing. Incredible. Amazing. Staggering. Unbelievable. Oops. No, I don’t want that last word in the list.

I think that last word has been the problem. This has been “unbelievable” for most of us. Somehow, we’ve been taught to think more about how weak and helpless we are, how needy, how pathetic, how human, how sinful, how feeble and puny. All of that is easy to believe and understand. And I get it, I do. All of those words describe exactly what we are, apart from the power of the Almighty God.

But Scriptures say that the Spirit of God and the power of God live within us. And we have failed to recognize that, failed to ask for and use our inheritance. We have failed to think and live as children of God.

This is big stuff. So big, I have to stop here. Now that I’ve got your wheels turning, just continue to think about this as we move toward celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

And though the idea of such power being available to us might boggle our human minds, ask the Spirit to give you spiritual eyes to see how such power could transform your life.